Run & Return
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day 1347: It was supposed to be that, this far away, no one would know their real names if they should see their faces. But then one day Quinn runs into an old friend. - Trinity series


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 64th cycle. Now cycle 65!_

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**"Run & Return"  
Quinn (& Brittany, Santana), Claudia (OC)  
Trinity series  
_(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)_  
**

Quinn knew that, in having chosen the town they did, every once in a while it would mean needing to make a trip to the city nearby to get what they needed. She'd made the trip on her own, while Spencer was back home, doing some repairs around the house. She wanted him to still take it easy. His back was healing along now that some time had passed, but she hardly considered it completely normal again. He would promise that he wouldn't overwork himself, but she could see he was just growing stir crazy. He could only 'take it easy' for so long before he needed to do something more. This was what had led into the small 'renovation' project they had going on, and it was also what was bringing her to the city on that day. She was going to go the day before, but the weather had been bad, and so now that the sun was out again, she had borrowed Sophia's car and gone on her errand.

It felt good to get out to the city, too, she had to say. Both of their lives had changed since they'd been forced to leave New York, but with her, it had meant switching from a life that involved travels from one place to the next on a semi-regular basis, to one where she could go anywhere she needed to go on foot, unless she was really in a rush, which wasn't too often. Driving for a few hours, windows down, music up… She could do with that.

She had made it to the mall right around lunch time, and of all things, this reminded her of her mother. Some days, they would go to the mall, her and her sister and her parents, and if they ever had the misfortune of getting there near lunch time, the debate would always start the same. Her father would say they should do their shopping first and then, if they really had to, they would stop at the food court after, whereas her mother would claim that she couldn't shop on an empty…

Her trip down memory lane had been brought to an abrupt end when her eyes swept across the crowded food court and registered a face that looked familiar. She'd looked again, and then she'd frozen in place, stunned when she saw it was exactly who she thought it was. _Claudia, what are you doing here?_

Quinn had hurried to hide behind a pillar, as casually as she could. When she got another discreet look, she could see her old friend sitting at a table, with a tray from a burger place, and an open book that, even from a distance, she could identify as some kind of travel guide. She was on vacation.

Her heart had been beating so fast, she could feel it now, and she didn't know how to proceed. She hadn't seen Claudia MacManus since she'd left New York, she couldn't… the woman, like everyone else, thought that she and Spencer were dead, killed in a car crash. That was what they'd needed to make everyone believe, even family, even… everyone. She hadn't seen her but, oh, she had missed her, like the others, and now seeing her… _Don't cry in the middle of a mall, what are you thinking?_

She couldn't be seen. They hadn't given up everything in their lives, only to have it ruined by happenstance. Her stomach was grumbling; she needed to eat. There was every chance that Claudia wouldn't see her or recognize her, if she sat in the right place and kept her back turned, but could she risk it? If Claudia wanted to leave the mall right after her lunch, she would go one way. If she was going back to shop, she would go another way. And if she had to go to the bathroom, it was that way as well. So if she sat right there behind her pillar, Quinn would be fine. _I'm seeing all this like it's another mission with Santana and Brittany,_ she realized with a sigh.

She'd had her lunch, undetected, though she doubted it would sit too calmly in her stomach, with how stressed out she'd been the entire time. She kept making sure that Claudia wasn't looking in her direction, which she wasn't. The doctor was gone by the time Quinn had finished her meal, so she had to go on with the original purpose of her visit here. _She could still be in the mall, it's not over._ Her dyed red hair had grown a little longer since they'd arrived, and she hoped that letting it down around her face would help in any way, if she happened to spot her friend again. And if Claudia looked anywhere in her direction, she had to play it cool, just be someone who vaguely looked like the dead blonde she had known.

She had gone to the store, as she was supposed to, made her purchases and started out of the store. She'd gotten what she needed to get, now the best thing for everyone would be for her to leave the mall, get in the car, and head back to her small town, pretend like nothing had happened.

The keys had sunk to the bottom of her purse, and with a grown she had reached in deep, still walking out the wide exit back into the mall, her bag had slipped from her shoulder and fallen with a thud to the floor. She scrambled to pick it up, and a man had stopped to help her. She thanked him, slipped it back on her shoulder, now with the keys located.

When she looked up, there was Claudia MacManus, a few feet away, frozen in place with a half-eaten cup of ice cream, staring back at her. She must have been looking at what little of her face she could see, thinking to herself how this redhead looked a little like her dead friend, but when Quinn had stood back to full height and her hair had come away from her face, Claudia's eyes had widened in shock.

Could she run? Pretend like she was just a very good doppelganger? _If she goes and tells anyone what she saw, our cover will be blown._ And if she did nothing, this could turn into a bigger scene than it already was. So she had taken up her things and walked right up to her.

"Don't say anything, just follow me."

THE END/TO BE CONTINUED (IN DAY 1368)

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******A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
************always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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